You're not implying that Android will soon acquire this capability and Apple will not do anything at all to counter, right?
That's the downfall of everyone who's ever proclaimed that the competition will soon overwhelm Apple. They look at what the competition is planning and then assume a world where Apple's products remain static forever. Even so-called 'analysts' make this mistake.
LOL. Have you seen any of the latest tablets ? Unlike iPad, they don't need a cable and iTunes running on the PC to sync. They work just fine standalone, syncing OTA to the cloud. Even if you buy app in the web based market somewhere, you don't need PC to download and transfer the app to the tablet. Apple still have a head-start given they were in the market a year earlier, but as apps for tablets are finally showing up, that gap is closing.
...as they finally cross the starting line with Apple already a lap ahead of the competitors, that they are finally closing the gap.
The "latest tablets" are mostly running the non-tablet Android, HP's webOS or RIMs QNX. Pre Honeycomb Android is not scaled to the tablet and all the apps are geared for smartphone use. And with Google locked down Honeycomb to get a solid build for the tablet market, QNX still trying to find its app feet (even porting ANdroid apps to get some app feet under the effort) and HP still trying to build out webOS apps, the only recourse you have is the problematic cloud apps that all the pundits claim will revolutionize computing. Until of course you get a Danger-style, or RIM-style networked resource failure. Everyone is still trying to figure out what Apple had on the bench over three years ago (from the hardware perspective) and (from an ecosystem perspective) what they can deliver for the platform itself.
You can of couse download apps on the fly on an iPad, and don'r need a PC to transfer it to the iPad, although you can do it that way if you desire. And if you have MobileMe you are already syncing things without a wire to the PC. Not completely "tetherless" but enough that you don't have to think much about it.
No one has commented on the funniest part of the whole article.
According to the newest (reduced) estimates, Apple will build 38 M units and everyone else combined with produce 35 M.
I don't expect competitors to build 30M+ tablets this year. IF they did and were able to sell the bulk of them then that would leave Apple with no where near the 80% of the tablet market that analysts have projected. And that would not be funny to Apple investors.
LOL. Have you seen any of the latest tablets ? Unlike iPad, they don't need a cable and iTunes running on the PC to sync. They work just fine standalone, syncing OTA to the cloud. Even if you buy app in the web based market somewhere, you don't need PC to download and transfer the app to the tablet. Apple still have a head-start given they were in the market a year earlier, but as apps for tablets are finally showing up, that gap is closing.
Have you used an iDevice? You don't have to sync to a computer to download an app.
The speed is not ultimate goal, but it is an enabler, and we still haven't seen many things packaged for tiny, portable device that runs on battery. Guess, at least for portable gaming we will see return to more traditional situation, where thousands of small players give a way to major players.
NVidia is an over-promise/under-deliver type of company. Tegra was going to rule the world. Used only in the Zune. Then Tegra 2 was going to be in top tier mass consumer products in Feb 2010. They made Feb 2011. Kal-El was going to be July/Aug 2011 now it is "holiday season" 2011 but they still don't have final silicon. I expect first serious Tegra 3 (Kal-El) tablets about the time of the iPad 3.
I actually dont find this news too surprising tho, as we are probably nearing eol for the tegra2. With Kal-El expected before the end of the year, the reduction in build plans may be indications that next gen, kal-el based tablets could be popping up soon
Ahh the infamous 'next best thing' from NVidia . Are they going to actually deliver on time, with the promised performance, instead of talking much but delivering little like they did with Tegra and Tegra 2? Tegra 2 might be EOL already, but it took about 6 months after they 'released' it before actual devices shipped that used it, and by that time it was already outdated compared to the A5, to the OMAP 4 series, to the Exynos, to the latest Qualcomm chips, actually, it was simply too little too late. I'm kind of bummed there are still people pretending it's anything special compared to its competitors, and that just because it has 'NVidia' on it, it must have crazy graphics performance, while in fact it has the worst graphics performance of all current ARM SoC's.
This time it's "quad-core" that is supposed to lead us to believe NVidia is going to blow everyone away, even though even dual-core still means nothing in mobile devices today. Most dual-core android devices actually perform worse compared to single-core devices at the same clockspeed.
It's exactly crap like this that is killing the iPad competitors: trying to sell a product based on imaginary advantages derived from specs that say nothing about how good the product is in reality.
The iPad HW isn't selling the iPad, the iTunes 'ecosystem' is. Easy to purchase content and apps is the killer feature. Android still continues to be too fragmented.
The momentum that Apple has and the good things people say about iPad on TV and in the streets is another thing that makes people choose iPad over the competition. Most buyers do not feel comfortable making a pre-purchasing evaluation for themselves and rely almost exclusively on trusted opinions. Nobody wants to take a chance on any other tablet when they know they will be safe with iPad. Plus the price is right.
LOL. Have you seen any of the latest tablets ? Unlike iPad, they don't need a cable and iTunes running on the PC to sync. They work just fine standalone, syncing OTA to the cloud.
Have you used an iPad lately? Mail, Safari, iBooks and others sync just fine over the net.
Quote:
Even if you buy app in the web based market somewhere, you don't need PC to download and transfer the app to the tablet.
Not a problem on iPad either. Your commments make me wonder if you have actually used an iPad recently.
Quote:
Apple still have a head-start given they were in the market a year earlier, but as apps for tablets are finally showing up, that gap is closing.
Not really! Buying into Android and Goggle is a horrible thing to do for many. Until a real alternative to Android pops up Apple will have little in the way of competition.
Right now Apple has the lead in the market, but if they don't find a way to improve the shopping experience in their on-line stores, sooner or later one of their competitors will. Perhaps the nook already has.
[/OFF TOPIC RANT]
Could not agree more. I really dislike using the iTunes store for anything beyond music.
For apps, especially, it is pitiful.
Thankfully, we have AppShopper.com, or I would not know about half of the apps I currently own.
Not really! Buying into Android and Goggle is a horrible thing to do for many. Until a real alternative to Android pops up Apple will have little in the way of competition.
Buying into Apple might be considered horrible by some too. That doesn't change opinion into fact.
Apple invented this market of tablets closely tied to smart phone parts, they thought of everything In detail way in advance.
That is in part because the ipad came first in the design process. Steve realized that it could be shrunk into a phone and that a phone might be the easier sell first (details he's revealed over several interviews)
Quote:
Originally Posted by asdasd
Remember at 63M - the iPad is still just in the lead, down from 100%. The question is whether it can continue above 50%
Given the sales results of the other guys so far and the continuous reports of this school, that company and now the government jumping on the ipad, I think 50% is going to be very easy for quite some time. In fact I think 75% is going to be easy for quite some time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by majjo
Strange. I cant speak for the xoom or the playbook, but everywhere ive read has said the asus transformer has been sold out, and that asus is desperately trying to ramp up production to meet demand, not reduce build plans.
Yes but how many units does that mean.
Remember HP announced that they sold out of the Slate in pre-orders that actually came in at almost double expectation. And then it was revealed that the expectation and the production run was only 5K and the line was already shut down (meaning a good 2-3 months for the other approx 5k to even be built).
ANd who did they sell them out to. Samsung I believe it was claimed they had sold 1 million Galaxy tab units in like 2 weeks. But then it was revealed that that was factory to reseller and of the ones actually going to end users it was more like 100k sold and a good 15-20% of that was returned in the first week and another 15-20% in the second.
Thank You. I've had this thought for a long time and could not figure out how to express it. You did so, eloquently and concisely. We are all calling this a "tablet" market. Tablets have been around a long time. They went nowhere This is an iPad market.
We also talk about an ecosystem. It's more. It's a vertically integrated fortress of products and services that people understand, can use, want, and pay for.
The iPad is at the top of a series of products that starts with iPod's, iPod Touch's, and iPhones. People grew used to each one, each step up just adds something.
Competitors will have a difficult time storming this castle. They must build their own.
No one has commented on the funniest part of the whole article.
According to the newest (reduced) estimates, Apple will build 38 M units and everyone else combined with produce 35 M.
Saddest part being that Apple will sell all their 38M units (with a return rate of maybe 10%). But only perhaps 1/3 of the other ones will sell or be given away as part of contracts etc. And a quarter of that will be returned within a couple of weeks, some for another not Apple, some for the ipad
LOL. Have you seen any of the latest tablets ? Unlike iPad, they don't need a cable and iTunes running on the PC to sync. They work just fine standalone, syncing OTA to the cloud. Even if you buy app in the web based market somewhere, you don't need PC to download and transfer the app to the tablet. Apple still have a head-start given they were in the market a year earlier, but as apps for tablets are finally showing up, that gap is closing.
Nope, I haven't seen these. That's fantastic and in line with what I'm talking about. Which ones are these?
If we begin to see suitable sales for them, given adequate apps as you said, Apple might have to face the prospect of cannibalizing Mac sales to preserve their lead in tablets.
Thank You. I've had this thought for a long time and could not figure out how to express it. You did so, eloquently and concisely. We are all calling this a "tablet" market. Tablets have been around a long time. They went nowhere This is an iPad market.
We also talk about an ecosystem. It's more. It's a vertically integrated fortress of products and services that people understand, can use, want, and pay for.
The iPad is at the top of a series of products that starts with iPod's, iPod Touch's, and iPhones. People grew used to each one, each step up just adds something.
Competitors will have a difficult time storming this castle. They must build their own.
They're all knee-jerk reactions to iPad, by manufacturers who fell into the "cheaper means more market share" death-spiral-think. Greenpeace should whack these guys for creating such huge carbon footprints for so little return.
Ugh... it was absolutely painful to read about the 31 Cheap Tablets website. Their English grammar is horrible. I did find it funny to that they had an "Apple iPad" section only to read see that there are selling junk "aPad" devices called "Cheap Tablet Apple iPad" knockoffs. That alone should IMHO warrant a call from Apple and threaten to shut these jokers down.
Such a shame that most of these craplet devices will end up in landfills, desk drawers, or door stops. What a waste of our ever-dwindling resources.
Comments
According to the newest (reduced) estimates, Apple will build 38 M units and everyone else combined with produce 35 M.
Do they really expect to catch up to Apple is this short of a time - with no compelling advantages at all?
If they actually follow through with these build plans, expect BOGO or better deals on crapware tablets before Christmas.
You're not implying that Android will soon acquire this capability and Apple will not do anything at all to counter, right?
That's the downfall of everyone who's ever proclaimed that the competition will soon overwhelm Apple. They look at what the competition is planning and then assume a world where Apple's products remain static forever. Even so-called 'analysts' make this mistake.
In his defense, he is Brainless.
LOL. Have you seen any of the latest tablets ? Unlike iPad, they don't need a cable and iTunes running on the PC to sync. They work just fine standalone, syncing OTA to the cloud. Even if you buy app in the web based market somewhere, you don't need PC to download and transfer the app to the tablet. Apple still have a head-start given they were in the market a year earlier, but as apps for tablets are finally showing up, that gap is closing.
...as they finally cross the starting line with Apple already a lap ahead of the competitors, that they are finally closing the gap.
The "latest tablets" are mostly running the non-tablet Android, HP's webOS or RIMs QNX. Pre Honeycomb Android is not scaled to the tablet and all the apps are geared for smartphone use. And with Google locked down Honeycomb to get a solid build for the tablet market, QNX still trying to find its app feet (even porting ANdroid apps to get some app feet under the effort) and HP still trying to build out webOS apps, the only recourse you have is the problematic cloud apps that all the pundits claim will revolutionize computing. Until of course you get a Danger-style, or RIM-style networked resource failure. Everyone is still trying to figure out what Apple had on the bench over three years ago (from the hardware perspective) and (from an ecosystem perspective) what they can deliver for the platform itself.
You can of couse download apps on the fly on an iPad, and don'r need a PC to transfer it to the iPad, although you can do it that way if you desire. And if you have MobileMe you are already syncing things without a wire to the PC. Not completely "tetherless" but enough that you don't have to think much about it.
No one has commented on the funniest part of the whole article.
According to the newest (reduced) estimates, Apple will build 38 M units and everyone else combined with produce 35 M.
I don't expect competitors to build 30M+ tablets this year. IF they did and were able to sell the bulk of them then that would leave Apple with no where near the 80% of the tablet market that analysts have projected. And that would not be funny to Apple investors.
There are some utterly horrendous craplets on the market. The ones that fall into the "other" category. For example...
Good call.
I truly suspect these stats that claim that iPad has dropped below the 70th percentile.
Those numbers have to include the mass of cheapo, throw-away junk that they sell on Home Shopping Network. Toilet paper tablets.
If you include only serious, non-fly-by-night products, iPad has to be over 90%
LOL. Have you seen any of the latest tablets ? Unlike iPad, they don't need a cable and iTunes running on the PC to sync. They work just fine standalone, syncing OTA to the cloud. Even if you buy app in the web based market somewhere, you don't need PC to download and transfer the app to the tablet. Apple still have a head-start given they were in the market a year earlier, but as apps for tablets are finally showing up, that gap is closing.
Have you used an iDevice? You don't have to sync to a computer to download an app.
Have you seen this ? : http://bit.ly/mNsc0E
The speed is not ultimate goal, but it is an enabler, and we still haven't seen many things packaged for tiny, portable device that runs on battery. Guess, at least for portable gaming we will see return to more traditional situation, where thousands of small players give a way to major players.
NVidia is an over-promise/under-deliver type of company. Tegra was going to rule the world. Used only in the Zune. Then Tegra 2 was going to be in top tier mass consumer products in Feb 2010. They made Feb 2011. Kal-El was going to be July/Aug 2011 now it is "holiday season" 2011 but they still don't have final silicon. I expect first serious Tegra 3 (Kal-El) tablets about the time of the iPad 3.
I actually dont find this news too surprising tho, as we are probably nearing eol for the tegra2. With Kal-El expected before the end of the year, the reduction in build plans may be indications that next gen, kal-el based tablets could be popping up soon
Ahh the infamous 'next best thing' from NVidia
This time it's "quad-core" that is supposed to lead us to believe NVidia is going to blow everyone away, even though even dual-core still means nothing in mobile devices today. Most dual-core android devices actually perform worse compared to single-core devices at the same clockspeed.
It's exactly crap like this that is killing the iPad competitors: trying to sell a product based on imaginary advantages derived from specs that say nothing about how good the product is in reality.
The iPad HW isn't selling the iPad, the iTunes 'ecosystem' is. Easy to purchase content and apps is the killer feature. Android still continues to be too fragmented.
The momentum that Apple has and the good things people say about iPad on TV and in the streets is another thing that makes people choose iPad over the competition. Most buyers do not feel comfortable making a pre-purchasing evaluation for themselves and rely almost exclusively on trusted opinions. Nobody wants to take a chance on any other tablet when they know they will be safe with iPad. Plus the price is right.
LOL. Have you seen any of the latest tablets ? Unlike iPad, they don't need a cable and iTunes running on the PC to sync. They work just fine standalone, syncing OTA to the cloud.
Have you used an iPad lately? Mail, Safari, iBooks and others sync just fine over the net.
Even if you buy app in the web based market somewhere, you don't need PC to download and transfer the app to the tablet.
Not a problem on iPad either. Your commments make me wonder if you have actually used an iPad recently.
Apple still have a head-start given they were in the market a year earlier, but as apps for tablets are finally showing up, that gap is closing.
Not really! Buying into Android and Goggle is a horrible thing to do for many. Until a real alternative to Android pops up Apple will have little in the way of competition.
....
[OFF TOPIC RANT]
Right now Apple has the lead in the market, but if they don't find a way to improve the shopping experience in their on-line stores, sooner or later one of their competitors will. Perhaps the nook already has.
[/OFF TOPIC RANT]
Could not agree more. I really dislike using the iTunes store for anything beyond music.
For apps, especially, it is pitiful.
Thankfully, we have AppShopper.com, or I would not know about half of the apps I currently own.
Not really! Buying into Android and Goggle is a horrible thing to do for many. Until a real alternative to Android pops up Apple will have little in the way of competition.
Buying into Apple might be considered horrible by some too. That doesn't change opinion into fact.
Apple invented this market of tablets closely tied to smart phone parts, they thought of everything In detail way in advance.
That is in part because the ipad came first in the design process. Steve realized that it could be shrunk into a phone and that a phone might be the easier sell first (details he's revealed over several interviews)
Remember at 63M - the iPad is still just in the lead, down from 100%. The question is whether it can continue above 50%
Given the sales results of the other guys so far and the continuous reports of this school, that company and now the government jumping on the ipad, I think 50% is going to be very easy for quite some time. In fact I think 75% is going to be easy for quite some time.
Strange. I cant speak for the xoom or the playbook, but everywhere ive read has said the asus transformer has been sold out, and that asus is desperately trying to ramp up production to meet demand, not reduce build plans.
Yes but how many units does that mean.
Remember HP announced that they sold out of the Slate in pre-orders that actually came in at almost double expectation. And then it was revealed that the expectation and the production run was only 5K and the line was already shut down (meaning a good 2-3 months for the other approx 5k to even be built).
ANd who did they sell them out to. Samsung I believe it was claimed they had sold 1 million Galaxy tab units in like 2 weeks. But then it was revealed that that was factory to reseller and of the ones actually going to end users it was more like 100k sold and a good 15-20% of that was returned in the first week and another 15-20% in the second.
Thank You. I've had this thought for a long time and could not figure out how to express it. You did so, eloquently and concisely. We are all calling this a "tablet" market. Tablets have been around a long time. They went nowhere This is an iPad market.
We also talk about an ecosystem. It's more. It's a vertically integrated fortress of products and services that people understand, can use, want, and pay for.
The iPad is at the top of a series of products that starts with iPod's, iPod Touch's, and iPhones. People grew used to each one, each step up just adds something.
Competitors will have a difficult time storming this castle. They must build their own.
Great post. Short and thoughtful.
No one has commented on the funniest part of the whole article.
According to the newest (reduced) estimates, Apple will build 38 M units and everyone else combined with produce 35 M.
Saddest part being that Apple will sell all their 38M units (with a return rate of maybe 10%). But only perhaps 1/3 of the other ones will sell or be given away as part of contracts etc. And a quarter of that will be returned within a couple of weeks, some for another not Apple, some for the ipad
LOL. Have you seen any of the latest tablets ? Unlike iPad, they don't need a cable and iTunes running on the PC to sync. They work just fine standalone, syncing OTA to the cloud. Even if you buy app in the web based market somewhere, you don't need PC to download and transfer the app to the tablet. Apple still have a head-start given they were in the market a year earlier, but as apps for tablets are finally showing up, that gap is closing.
Nope, I haven't seen these. That's fantastic and in line with what I'm talking about. Which ones are these?
If we begin to see suitable sales for them, given adequate apps as you said, Apple might have to face the prospect of cannibalizing Mac sales to preserve their lead in tablets.
Consfusing R&D with M&A... Can you say "Microsoft"?
Microsoft is confusing ^C&^V for R&D
Thank You. I've had this thought for a long time and could not figure out how to express it. You did so, eloquently and concisely. We are all calling this a "tablet" market. Tablets have been around a long time. They went nowhere This is an iPad market.
We also talk about an ecosystem. It's more. It's a vertically integrated fortress of products and services that people understand, can use, want, and pay for.
The iPad is at the top of a series of products that starts with iPod's, iPod Touch's, and iPhones. People grew used to each one, each step up just adds something.
Competitors will have a difficult time storming this castle. They must build their own.
Great post. Short and thoughtful.
There are some utterly horrendous craplets on the market. The ones that fall into the "other" category. For example:
The "eLocity A7 7" Capacitive Touch Screen Android Tablet"
http://www.elocitynow.com/
The "Sylvania SYNET7LP 7-Inch Mini Tablet"
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/...-progress.html
Here are 31 (yes, thirty one) "Cheap Tablet PCs"
http://www.china-tablet-pc.com/cheap...t-pc-c-17.html
And finally, if you thought those OLPC laptops were cheap at $100, here's a $35 Indian pad:
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010...itute-computer
They're all knee-jerk reactions to iPad, by manufacturers who fell into the "cheaper means more market share" death-spiral-think. Greenpeace should whack these guys for creating such huge carbon footprints for so little return.
Ugh... it was absolutely painful to read about the 31 Cheap Tablets website. Their English grammar is horrible. I did find it funny to that they had an "Apple iPad" section only to read see that there are selling junk "aPad" devices called "Cheap Tablet Apple iPad" knockoffs. That alone should IMHO warrant a call from Apple and threaten to shut these jokers down.
Such a shame that most of these craplet devices will end up in landfills, desk drawers, or door stops. What a waste of our ever-dwindling resources.